Lady Dinos' last shot at playoffs comes up short against Spanish Fork

Libero Katee Martinez gets one of her team-high 26 digs against Spanish Fork on Tuesday night. Martinez, a sophomore, made a number of key plays for the Lady Dinos in helping keep the game close in the later sets.

Taylor Oliver, a sophomore, looks to finish off a kill attempt against Spanish Fork. Oliver finished with eight kills on the night for the Lady Dinos.

Annika Hansen, a junior, tries to get a kill against Spanish Fork. Hansen led the Lady Dinos with nine blocks on the night.

Senior Samm Jeppson, left, sets the ball in the air for fellow senior Kayleigh Potts to attempt a kill against Spanish Fork. Potts led the Lady Dinos with 10 kills in the game.

Despite their record this season, the Carbon High Lady Dinos volleyball team continued to battle every team they played down the stretch.

And because of that, a glimmer of hope still remained for the Lady Dinos to qualify for the 3A State Tournament.

After defeating Payson in four sets in a rescheduled game on Monday evening (25-22, 25-16, 17-25, 25-13), a shot at the playoffs was still a possibility.

The Lady Dinos needed a win against Spanish Fork to help put them in a tie for fourth place with Payson in the Region 12 standings.

Spanish Fork took an early lead and kept the Lady Dinos from making a comeback in the later sets as they came away with a four set win (20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25) on Tuesday night at the Carbon High Gym.

"The girls left everything out on the court tonight," said CHS head coach Danielle Jensen.

Jensen said the Lady Dinos (4-17 overall, 2-8 Region 12) battled all season long despite being a younger team compared to their competition.

"We're a very young team with only three seniors on our team," Jensen said. "We've got to work on capitalizing on scoring chances and get more experience playing with each other as a team."

While it was a tough way to say goodbye to three seniors, Ashley Quinton, Kayleigh Potts and Samm Jeppson, Jensen said the future of the program will continue to grow and get better.

"We need to continue developing our younger players and put in a lot of time in the gym in the offseason," Jensen explained. "The experiences from this season will pay off for us in the future."